EDITOR'S NOTE: On Oct. 23, 2021, I was ordained as a minister of word and sacrament in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and installed as pastor at Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton, Minn. I also served the same church for four years from October 2017 to October 2021 a synodical authorized minister. The journey together these past seven years has been an amazing one, full of learning, growing and a deepening of my theological mind. This sermon took place on Jan. 26, 2025.
This week's gospel text: Luke 4:14-30
The Rejection of Jesus at Nazareth
16 When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed,19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
20 And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” 23 He said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.’ ” 24 And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25 But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months and there was a severe famine over all the land, 26 yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. 27 There were also many with a skin disease in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” 28 When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. 29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. 30 But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.
The message:
The trouble, I think, that many of us have with the gospel is … that we want to dissect it to our liking. … Keep the parts that make us feel good, and don’t challenge us.
And jettison the parts of the gospel that do challenge us and make us look inward at our own failures to follow God’s word.
Does that seem like a fair observation?
It’s the reason why today I wanted to read this week’s and next week’s planned gospels together, as a package because if you only read half of this story -- either the first half we receive this week, or the second half we receive in next week’s gospel -- then you don’t get the whole picture of what Jesus is preaching to his hometown crowd.
That’s right, talk about your uncomfortable moments. … It’s very important to this story to remember that this scene is taking place in Nazareth, the very village in which young Jesus grew up.
And this is not a very big place, mind you! … Think Wolverton, maybe 20 or 30 families tops in this village … Nearly everyone in attendance had likely seen Jesus take his early religious studies right there in that same temple.
Nearly all of the adults in attendance that day had seen young Jesus’ boyhood hijinks and could recount all of the embarrassing things that come with growing up in a small village.
And now, there stands 30-some-year-old Jesus, who’s gained a fair amount of notoriety from his preaching in the region, standing there before them, giving them the sermon of the day. … Right?
Because that is what this story is about. … If you missed the nuance of what is being set up here, Jesus was invited by his hometown temple to preach at the gathering.
That is why the temple leaders handed Jesus the Isiah scripture roll. … The custom was that the person who was asked to preach that day was given the sacred scroll from which to read, and then it was their discretion about which verses they would expound upon.
Not unlike how we Lutherans practice our worship nowadays. There is a prescribed set of readings each week that come from the lectionary, but generally the pastor kind of picks and chooses what verses are inspiring them that week.
This is what Jesus is doing … and out of all of the Book of Isaiah, Jesus picks this passage:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring the good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
And then he rolls up the scroll, gives it back to the temple’s religious leader and sits down! … Can you imagine? … You know, in today’s popular vernacular … What a mic drop, right?
This upstart, young rabbi -- a hometown kid who went away and practiced his first clergy chops -- comes home to temple … and among the very people who know him the best … he declares that he is the anointed one. … That he is the messiah!
It is he that God has sent forth to encourage the poor, to set people free and to heal those who are ailing. … In other words, it is he who all of the Hebrew Bible’s prophets had been writing and preaching about for thousands of years.
And now here he was, in the flesh … that little Jesus kid from down the block. … Joseph and Mary’s son. … Unbelievable!
And all the eyes in the synagogue were fixed on him. Can you imagine?
Can you imagine the audacity of little ol’ Jesus from down the block coming home from seminary and shouting at you: “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Little ol’ Jesus from down the block just told you he was the messiah … the future king that all Jews had been waiting for for generations!
And, at first, there is a palpable excitement that flutters through the audience. … “All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. “They said, ‘Is not this Joseph’s son?’”
You know that little rascal that used to run around here. … And to think, the messiah comes from our little village after all these thousands of years! … My, they were proud!
You can just see it, can’t you? … The pride beaming from their faces … our little village produced the messiah. … Won’t everyone be envious of us!
But then here comes the plot twist, right? … Dun, dun, dun … Jesus wasn’t done with his lesson.
So, in essence, he says “Whoa, Whoa, Whoa. … Hold up!
Before you crank up the welcome home party … remember this: “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown.”
And he continues: You’re going to ask me to perform all those same miracles that you’ve heard about from the other towns in the region.
You’re going to ask me to “do here also in your hometown the things that we heard you did at Capernaum.”
But I’m not going to do that: Rather I’m going to preach to you … that you’re not deserving of those miracles.
And in verses 25 through 27, Jesus recites a series of examples such as the prophet Elijah who didn’t cure the famine in his own lands … and who also ignored the plight of many a widow.
And then Jesus says, there was the prophet Elisha, who only cured one of the many people who were lepers in his lands.
And, in doing so, Jesus is signaling to his hometown temple that you shouldn’t necessarily get your hopes up here. … Even though I’m the Messiah, I wasn’t sent just to cure all your ills here in Nazareth …
… but I was also called to preach the gospel, which sometimes tells us that we are wrong, that we need to repent … that even God’s chosen people are subject to the trials of this earth.
And I must remind you that I won’t be there to perform a miracle every time you face hardship.
And I need to make this clear: Sometimes I’m going to tell you that you’re not listening to the gospel. … That rather you’re being hard headed and selfish and you need to repent.
And my … how the homecoming celebration takes a turn then … doesn’t it?
All of sudden, the hometown crowd isn’t as pleased with their native son. … And, in fact, they decide that actually Jesus has angered them.
He’s held up a mirror to them and revealed their inequities, and they don’t like it one bit.
In fact, Jesus’ indictment drives them to violence! … “They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff.”
Faith Family … does that sink in? … Let’s hear that again.
“They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff.”
They were so angry that Jesus was preaching the gospel to them, that rather than face the truth they’d rather just kill -- or at the very least injure -- the very messiah they had just learned had come from their hometown.
Minutes ago they wanted to throw a party for him … and now they wanted to injure him … or worse.
And that’s the trouble with being a Jesus follower in a nutshell … isn’t it Faith Family?
One minute he can have you pumping your fist, saying, “Go get ‘em Jesus. You tell ‘em! … Give ‘em the business!”
… and the very next minute you might think, “Oh wait … you mean the gospel applies to me too? … Hmmm, I don’t like that Jesus. You’re supposed to be my messiah, on my side.”
That’s why the title of this section of Luke is so jarring. The NSRV names this section: “The Rejection of Jesus at Nazareth.”
I’m sure a great many people when they read that think, “Oh not me. I’d never reject Jesus.”
And then one day their personal ideologies are threatened by Jesus’ preaching of the gospel … and boom … the gospel doesn’t look as appealing anymore does it?”
I wonder, Faith Family, what would we do if Jesus came home to preach here in little ol’ Wolverton? … Would we welcome his words with praise? … Would we want to throw him a party? … Or would he anger us? … Would we just want to drive him to the edge of the cliff?
And that is the Good News for this Third Sunday after Epiphany, Jan. 26, 2025. … Amen.
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